The use by campers and hikers of elevated sleeping surfaces is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,401,846, which issued to Wiles on Dec. 27, 1921, discloses an elevated camper's bed of a hammock design. Elevated sleeping surfaces for campers are similarly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,902, which issued to Hall et al. on Jan. 11, 1977, (hammock device with a sleeping bag and tent attached); U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,917, which issued to Mojica on Feb. 7, 1978, (hammock device with a canopy); U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,883, which issued to Malone on Jan. 5, 1982, (suspended tent with rain guard device); U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,542, which issued to Cohen on Mar. 23, 1982, (suspended shelter); U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,465, which issued to Lyons, Jr. on Dec. 17, 1991, (suspendable sleeping bag); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,021, which issued to Snodgrass on Aug. 31, 1993, (suspended sleeping surface tent where base rests upon the ground). As such, the basic concept of camping and recreation based elevated sleeping surfaces and their use are disclosed.
There have been attempts made in the prior art to increase comfort for wilderness sleeping by raising the sleeping devices off the ground. Primarily, this has been done by the use of hammocks which are supported by tying the sleeping devices to trees at two end points. The stability of said hammocks is achieved by supporting the occupant in a sack-like manner. The user must actively balance himself in the hammock and maintain a modicum of an active sense of balance even during sleep. The sleeping position is primarily restricted to sleeping on the back. The sleeping posture is uncomfortably curled by the sag of the hammock. Any attempt to tension the hammock to be more level, taut, and firm results in dramatically decreased stability. When screening and tenting are added to create shelter, the two-point hammock becomes very difficult to use and, in the event of an imbalance accident, likely to find the user upside down in the unit and tangled in the tenting.
While there are unpatented art sleeping surfaces designed to include high tree use which gain stability by using four attachment points, this art neither teaches or claims a tensioning device or design for flat, taut, bed-like sleeping, but rather cradles the user in the same sack-like manner of support as does the two point hammock design. This art is essentially a sleeping surface comprised of a sheet held at all four corners.
Lastly, the popular “Newell” hammock, U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,720, is typical of the several so-called “Jungle Hammocks” disclosed above and shares the same disadvantages as noted above. The sleeping surfaces of the prior art are uncomfortable and unstable.
While each of these prior art patents disclose suspended sleeping surfaces for camping and recreational purposes which fulfill their respective particular objectives and requirements, and are most likely quite functional for their intended purposes, it will be noticed that none of the prior art cited disclose an apparatus and/or method that allow a user the comfort of sleeping suspended above the ground without the discomfort of the cramped and unnatural position with which a hammock places the users body, and/or the discomfort and danger of sleeping on an unstable surface. As such, there apparently still exists the need for new and improved suspended sleeping surface to maximize the benefits to the user and minimize the risks of injury from its use. In this respect, the present invention disclosed herein substantially fulfills this need.